Improvement in the manufacture of illuminating-gas



J. A. BASSETT. MANUFACTURE OF ILLUMINATING GAS.

.No. 36,254. Patented Aug. 19, 1862.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN A. BASSETT, OF SALEM, lVIASSACHUSETTS,.ASSIGNOR TO THE AMERI- CAN STEAM GAS COMPANY.

IMPROV EME NT IN THE MANUFACTURE OF lLLUMlNATlNG-GAS.

Specification forming part'of Letters Patent No. 36,254, dated-August 19, 1862.

To all whom it may concern:

Beit known that I, Join: A. BAssn'rT, of Salem, in the county of Essex and State of Massachusetts, have i nvented certain Improvements in the Manufacture of Illuminating-Gas from Steam, of which the following is a full,

clear, and exact description. reference being had to the accompanying drawing, making part of this specification, inwhich is represented a vertical section th rough the apparatus which I employ, the brick-work and furnace not being shown.

On the 3d day of January, 1860, I obtained Letters Patent of the United States for im provement in the manufacture of hydrocarbon gas, in which the steam after being decomposed bycontact with the incandescent coke or charcoal was thrown together with the vapor of some hydrocarbon into a second heated retort where the two were further decomposed and united, and a durable and rich gas was produced with the consumption of an exceedingly small amount of hydrocarbon.

My present invention is an improvement on the above; and it consists in passing superheated steam into a retort containing bituminous coal, partly incandescent and partly in a bituminous state, the incandescent part serving to decompose the steam as it comes in contact with it, and the bituminous part, which is only heated but not incandescent, furnishing to the hydrogen gas from the decomstand and use my invention, I will proceed to describe the manner in which I have carried it out.

In the said drawings, A represents a steam boiler from which steam is conducted through the pipe a, which is bent or coiled in the furnace orflue, so that thesteam in passingthrough it may be thoroughly superheated, to a vertical retort, B, which is also heated by the furnace or flue. This retort in which the bituminous coal is to be placed has a hopper, C, on top of it. The lid b of the hopper is removableto fill it, and a cock, 0, which has a hole through it is used todrop a charge of the 'fine, coal with which the hopper is filled into the retort at intervals, as may be requi red, to replace the coal which is consumed'in or is removed from the lower part of the retort. A

horizontal pipe, D, at the bottom of the retort .at intervals, either by hand or by some maohinery,where such is handy, todrop a charge of fine coal into the retort. and keep the coal at a proper height in the retort, so that while the coal in the lower part or the retort is in an incandescent statethat near the top of the retort-will be only heated but not burning.

The pipe to enters theretort near its lower end, so that the superheated steam comes directly'into contact with the incandescent coal, by which it is decomposed. The hydrogen gas now rises through the coal in the top 01' the retort,from which it collects a further supply of carbon necessary to render it illuminating, it having collected but a small portion in'its first contact with the incandescent coal. The carbnreted hydrogen gas then passes otf by the pipe f to the purifier and thence to the ga'som'eter, or it may be first passed through another heated retort,when necessary,to make thecombination of the carbon, more perfect and durable.

I do not'wish to confine myself to this particular form of retort, (although I consider it the best,) not" to the particular construction or arrangement of the several apparatus connected therewith, as these may be varied without departing from the spirit of my invention. For example, a horizontal retort may be used to contain the incandescent coal, and another one above it may contain the coal through which the gas is to be passed, each beingvsupplied at intervals with coal; and instead of using fine coal in the hopper 0, coal may be prepared in pieces or blocks of a'convenient size to be dropped at intervals into the retort.

I generally use the best bog-head cannel coal;

but a poorer quality'of gas-producing coal may be used and a small quantity of coal or resin tar be added. The steam by being thoroughly superheated before it enters the retort does not cool down the incandescent coal and check the decomposition of the steam, while the gas thus produced passes in a highlyrheated state up through the coal in the top of the retort, and the gases produced in these twoparts of JOHN A. iaAssE'rT.

Y/Vitnesses:

THOS. R. RoAoH N. W. STEARNS, 

